Risorgimento: Rebirth

by Maya Daniels

  “Who did this, April?” I can barely recognize my voice.

  “I think I’ll take that shower now.” Gulping air, she watches me wide-eyed.

  She is willing to obey me only because she doesn’t want to talk about whatever has happened. Picking my battles wisely, I allow her to pull away. I will know every detail, just not now. Maybe not even this night, but she will tell me who did that. If he still lives, I will enjoy ending his life very slowly. With my hand on her lower back, I guide her to the bathroom. Opening the door, I push her through it gently, staying at the threshold. She stops a couple of feet inside, looking around in wonder. I try to see it through her eyes. What would it look like to be in this place after hiding in shadows and sewers all your life? Shaking my head, I push that to the back of my mind. It’ll get me to the point of no return, and I’ll go visit the Council members tonight for a chat. One step at a time, I remind myself.

  “No one will get anywhere near you. I will stand with my back to you until you tell me you are done.” When she glances at me over her shoulder suspiciously, I give her what I hope is a gentle smile. “That way I can talk, and you can listen. Your hearing is not as good as mine to hear my story over the running water and through a closed door.” When she doesn’t move, I nudge her further into the bathroom. “My kind may be worse than animals, but I will not break my word. I can control my instincts.”

  I regretted those promised words five minutes later.

  April

  Screaming internally, telling myself how stupid I was for agreeing to something as insane as getting naked with the door open and two monsters present, I start taking my clothes off. Well, taking them off is farfetched. I fumble with the bottom of my shirt, twisting it between my fingers. Breathing through my nose, I do my best not to freak out.

  I really want to freak out.

  ""I won't start the story until you are under the spray,"" Asshole Sebastian says, not turning to look over his shoulder.

  The funny thing is, I actually believe him. For some insane reason, his word means a lot to him. I can make that little fact work in my favor. If I stop acting like a five-year-old idiot and start using my brain. Easier said than done.

  My eyes dart around, taking in the bathroom. Just like everything else in this place, it's absolutely breathtaking. Marble tiles cover the floor. Glass doors separate the shower from the rest of the room. Further down, on the same side as the shower, is a large tub that can fit a full family inside. Different sized bottles are clustered in one corner. Opposite that is a large mirror taking up half of the wall. Marble, sand-colored counters stretch the entire length with two basins nestled on it. More bottles are spread around. Who the hell needs that many bottles?

  Sebastian clears his throat, and I yank the shirt over my head angrily. No matter how long I stall and linger, I can tell he won't budge. Plus, I have to admit, only to myself, of course, I can't wait to feel the water run down my body. It has been a while since I've felt clean. Giddiness almost makes me smile. Almost. The rustling of clothing stops the asshole from twitching at the door. The entire time I've known him, he has been unnaturally still. Freakishly so. I'm not sure he is aware that he is twitching. I shouldn't even care what he is doing, but I can't help myself. Something about him pulls me like a moth to a flame. And I will burn myself. I know it as good as I know my name.

  "And that's how people die, April. Don't be stupid," murmuring under my breath, I should've known he would hear me.

  "You will not die. Whoever wants to hurt you will need to go through me first."

  God help me, I might be mentally unstable because I believe him about this, too. What has made me flip the switch to make me trust what he says? I have no idea. Whatever it is, it has worked, because deep down in my soul, I know he told me the truth.

  Kicking off my boots, I unbutton my jeans and let them pool at my feet. I don't wear a bra or panties. I never saw the point of it, keeping only one pair for when my period came. It was the only time I wore underwear, and it was annoying as hell. My skin pebbles when the cold air in the room hits it. Unwilling to stand naked longer than necessary, I hurry inside the shower.

  When I move, I think Sebastian stiffens, if that's even possible. Ignoring him, I jerk the door open, letting it slam closed behind me. Fumbling with the controls, I yelp when a freezing-cold spray hits me. I adjust the temperature fast, yelling at Sebastian at the same time, ''I'm okay, don't look.'' He says nothing and doesn't turn. With the warm spray, steam surrounds me fast in the closed-up space. I watch the black water swirl, disappearing in the drain at my feet. A great sadness overwhelms me. It feels like I'm watching my life leave me in this nightmare I find myself in. Tears mix with the water, running down my face.

  "Start your story." My voice is thick with pain and sorrow.

  "Are you okay, April?" The concern in his words makes me want to curl up on the tiles and weep.

  "I'm fine. Start talking or I'm coming out and leaving." Brave words for a scared little girl like me.

  "Many centuries ago, my Sire was obsessed with the history of our kind. He always thought there was more to it than what we've been told." His words take a faraway tone, and I can tell he is stuck in the memories. Centuries? What the hell! How old is this guy? I can't wonder long because he keeps talking. I'm paying attention in case he asks me to repeat something. "He must've found something important because he died only an hour after telling me to meet him at his home. There were no phones in those days like we have now. We communicated through our bond. Sending messages through our feelings. I never spoke to him again because I found him beheaded in the middle of his yard. They never let him enter his home. I never found out who did it, but I had my suspicions. That night, I took over his research while pretending for the world that I felt relieved to be rid of my Sire. He was a cruel master, indeed, or so everyone thought. In truth, he was very kind. Humanity never left him…" Sebastian trails off, no doubt reliving those days

  I find myself leaning forward, listening to his story with bated breaths, despite my reluctance to hear it. The water draining at my feet is not black anymore. It's grayish, and sand gathers around the metal plate of the drain.

  "I found out that he was looking for some prophecy to confirm that the Council was never meant to rule our kind. We had a matron, a queen if you may, that ruled for millennia. No one knew what happened to her. The records of her were passed on as tales, while overnight, the Council was born, taking over our lives. They've ruled with cruelty and without mercy. They do so today the same way. Whoever mentioned the truth in the tales, they met the final death. I never spoke a word about it, dismissing even the gossip publicly. But I searched. I was losing hope after so long, until a year ago when I found an old parchment that gave me a lead."

  "What did it say?" Yanking my fingers through my matted hair in hopes to detangle it, I can't help prodding him to continue talking. Pouring a handful of conditioner into my palm, I rub my nest of hair with jerky movements. The water is running clear, full of white suds at my feet.

  ""It spoke of the matron. Whoever wrote it must've been serving under her. With a shaking hand, they wrote of an attack. Eight masters forming an alliance. Greedy for power and wanting to rule over humans instead of living in the shadows, hiding our existence. They waited until close to dawn and attacked together as one. Our matron was strong, but not enough to fight off eight almost as old as her at once. They didn't just kill her. They brought a mage that placed a curse on her. To be born over and over as human, not remembering who she was unless she was turned."

  "I'm sure someone would've gotten lucky by now to find her in so many lives lived." Even I don't believe my own comment.

  "True, but the mage did his own twist while playing with the fates. Her blood was made poison to all our kind. Whoever tried to turn her…well, he or she would die before that could happen."

  "O negative." Blinking fast, I rinse off my hair because my eyes start burning when the conditioner drips in them
. "Unless your matron can multiply, there were tons of people with that blood type. Sorry to disappoint you."

  "She has been reborn over and over through many lifetimes as human. I'm sure she's had a family in quite a few of those."

  "You're saying all the O negative are somehow related?" It is so crazy that it weirdly makes sense. "They all come from the same woman?"

  "You all come from the same woman, yes."

  "Okay." Dragging out the word, I turn the water off and twist my now detangled hair so I can squeeze the moisture out. "And the point of the story is?"

  "There was a small glass vial that the parchment was wrapped around when I found it."

  My heart picks up the pace, thundering in my chest. Everything in me is telling me I don't want him to finish the story. Curiosity has no bounds. I want to know. "What was in it?"

  "It was blood from the original matron. She gifted it, knowing her time was running out. The person writing the story begged whoever found it to drink it and find her again. Her memory will return when she is reborn. I drank the blood and felt that she lives."

  "So, you searched for her." Standing outside of the shower, goosebumps cover my naked skin but I'm too lost in his story and his voice to grab a towel.

  "And I found her." His words are soft and reverent.

  "I'm not her, big guy. You are mistaken." The words pass through numb lips. I can feel the truth of everything he said in my bones. "I'm just a broken, scared girl. Not a powerful mother of a race of monsters."

  "Your blood doesn't lie, April." He was about to break his promise and started turning around. I was going to let him, standing naked in the middle of the bathroom, too numb to move. The slamming of a door makes me jump a foot off the tiles. Marcus burst inside the bedroom somewhere behind Sebastian, or in front of him, since his back is still turned to me.

  "We have a problem." His voice is shaking in anger. "They know about the girl. We've been summoned."

  Panic like no other seizes my mind. Snatching a towel, I wrap it around myself and, grabbing the bundle of my clothing from the floor, I try to get past Sebastian. Static sounds buzz in my head. Faint noises penetrate from somewhere, but they are so far away, it barely registers. I need to get out of here.

  I need to hide.

  Strong fingers wrap around my arm to stop me, and something in me breaks. A hysterical scream is wrenched from my lungs, my body jerking violently in hopes to free myself from whoever is trying to keep me here. The fact that I was somewhat calm while in the presence of monsters this whole time doesn't matter. Whatever it was that possessed me to do what they asked and talk to them is long gone now. I lived a miserable existence for so long, not because I wanted to prove something. I did it because I didn't want to die. That was the simple truth of it.

  I want to live.

  Voices get louder, overtaking the buzzing in my ears. I keep thrashing around, the towel long forgotten where it dropped at my feet. I couldn't care less if I'm naked. All I want is to get out of here. Strong arms wrap around me, pulling me to a firm chest. It doesn't stop me from doing my best to free myself. I scratch, hit, and scream. When a hand pushes my face close to skin, like a wild animal, I open my mouth, sinking my teeth in it. Warm blood rushes in, the sweet, coppery taste taking me by surprise. I've sucked on my cuts through the years. I know what blood should taste like. This was not it.

  Just having that thought that I should know what blood tastes like stops my frenetic movements. Too late, I realize I've actually swallowed whatever fluid filled my mouth. A deep, masculine groan vibrates through my chest and goosebumps cover my arms and legs. The short hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

  Everything is so quiet in the room, the silence pulses like a living being. When I try to pull away from whoever it is that holds me, the arms tighten around me. One hand is still pressing my face to what I now know is a thick neck. My lips are still on the skin, the blood trickling between them coating the inside of my mouth. Instantly, I become acutely aware of a few things. First, it's Sebastian that is holding me prisoner, wrapped around me like an anaconda holding her prey before it swallows it whole. Second, I'm butt naked like the day I was born. And third, the power radiating from him, his scent, and the taste of his blood make my body react in ways I've never felt before. All my nerve endings are on fire. Even the air in the room touching my skin sends it ablaze.

  Another groan vibrates from Sebastian through me. I push against his hand on the back of my head slightly, requesting for him to let me go. Reluctantly, he does, allowing me to push off him and scurry away. Crouching, keeping all my focus on him, not daring to even glance away, my hands search for the towel. When my fingers sink in the plush fabric, I snatch it up and hold it in front of me like a shield. He still hasn't moved, his eyes closed with a reverent look on his handsome face. Catching a glimpse of movement from the corner of my eye, I step further away so I can see the whole room.

  I've managed to exit the bathroom in my hysteria, but apparently, I haven't gotten far. Now, here I am, backing up until my naked butt hits the wall opposite the window. The shadow that got my attention was Marcus coming further inside the bedroom. All three of them are now looking at me. Andrei and Marcus with worry written all over them. Sebastian, on the other hand, has a fire burning in his smoldering gaze, making my blood run hot and cold at the same time. The collar of his pristine white shirt is covered in red on one side. My stomach does a violent lurch, reminding me why that is. He iss bleeding. No, not bleeding. He has bled. He is not anymore.

  I can still taste his blood in my mouth.

  "I want to live." My voice sounds far away. I have no idea why I even said that.

  "You will not die tonight, April." Sebastian takes a step towards me, my body pressing at the wall like it wants to become one with it. He stops with a frown.

  "I'm not going to the Council Towers." I'm reduced to stating obvious things at the moment. As if the three of them were not aware of those facts.

  "You will not go there tonight, no." He takes another step closer. The other two just stand frozen like statues, not saying a word.

  That's when I realize how stiff my whole body has been. Hearing those words relaxes my muscles, making it so my feet can't hold my weight anymore. Sliding down the wall, I curl up in as tight of a ball as I can.

  "Thank you." My words are barely a puff of air passing through numb lips, but I know they heard me. Because they are not human, April, my mind screams so loud, my body does an involuntary jerk.

  "Leave us." Sebastian is still watching me intently, not even glancing away when his soft words are spoken.

  A blast of air caresses my skin before a soft click sounds in the room. To my frightened mind, it seems as loud as a gun going off. I flinch, causing Sebastian's smoldering gaze to soften a bit. We stand like that for a long moment. I can't help wondering what he thinks when he looks at me. Apart from his misguided idea that I'm something that I'm not. Does he see a woman? A girl, as he called me a few times? Is he disgusted by a human in his room? Or does he see food, like a wolf cornering a frightened rabbit in the middle of the winter? Him looming over me brings his height to the front of my mind again. Even if he was human, he could've crushed me with one hand if he wanted.

  "You still fear me, April."

  "No shit I fear you, Sebastian." I can't hold my tongue. "What did you think? You'd tell me a story, and I'd get all warm and fuzzy? Jump on the crazy train to resurrect your long-lost queen, or whatever? You must think I'm an idiot." When he keeps watching me, saying nothing, I get uncomfortable, so I continue talking. "Granted, I can't blame you if you think I'm stupid. I haven't been acting very smart since you've seen me. In my defense, that's what people do when they are cornered…or abducted. They act in self-preservation, on instinct." With a firm nod, I finish my speech.

  One side of his lips twitches slightly.

  "What?" Anger at finding myself in this position makes me snap at him.

  "I love how brave y
ou are."

  Taken aback by those words, my mouth opens and closes a few times as I squirm a bit before I can speak. "Wha…what?" Yeah, I know, a brilliant reply.

  "You fear me, yet you fight me with every breath you take." A smile like pure sin blossoms on his face. My stomach does a somersault, my thighs clenching in reaction.

  His nostrils flare, that smoldering fire returning to his intent gaze. Gulping air, I stare at him. Sebastian shakes his head slightly as if to clear it and turns around. His long legs take him to one of the chests of drawers, and he rummages through it. After a moment, he comes back in front of me and hands me what looks like a black t-shirt. A very large black t-shirt.

  "Put it on." His words come out as a growl, and I jerk back, bumping my head on the wall. "Please," he tries again, softly, after clearing his throat. "I would like to keep my word, but your scent is too tempting. I think this will help…hopefully," he adds, as if telling himself that last bit.

  I am all in agreement as soon as he says it will help him keep his word. Reaching for it, I yank the shirt from his fingers and look at him expectantly. He gives me a smirk, but thankfully, he turns his back. Not wanting to tempt Good Fortune, in case she decides to join Luck and Hope in becoming a bitch and the bane of my existence I pull the shirt over my head, shoving my arms through the holes as fast as possible. When I stand up, it drops down, covering me a few inches to my knees. It's not the best, but it's better than being naked.

  "You can look now." Kicking the towel away with one foot, I pull my hair out of the shirt.

  "Let us organize ourselves before we answer the summons." After sweeping his gaze over me from head to toe, he offers his hand.

  I look at it like it's a snake ready to bite me as soon as I touch it. Not daring to look into Sebastian's eyes, I push his hand away and stomp towards the living room. There is no getting away right now, but it doesn't mean I'm happy about being here. His chuckle from behind me makes me stomp harder.